Proposal to increase the earmarked assets of the Housing Fund of the Republic of Slovenia

The Government adopted a decision that the earmarked assets and capital of the Housing Fund of the Republic of Slovenia are to be increased in 2024 by the payment of EUR 25.5 million.

Pursuant to the Resolution on the National Housing Programme 2015–2025, the Housing Fund of the Republic of Slovenia (hereinafter: the Slovenian Housing Fund) is the main entity responsible for the implementation of Slovenian hosing policy. In accordance with its business policy for 2021–2025, the Slovenian Housing Fund performs this function by two key actions: by building public rental housing and by financing the building of public rental housing by municipalities, local housing funds and non-profit housing organisations. It carries out the second of these under the programme for co-financing the provision of public rental housing units, which determines the period of and conditions for support. The funds to increase the earmarked assets and capital of the Slovenian Housing Fund in the amount of EUR 25.5 million will be allocated to the implementation of this programme.

The Ministry of a Solidarity-Based Future conducted a survey among housing funds and municipalities on planned housing projects.

The survey carried out in 2024 indicates the possibility of co-financing 18 projects under which the building has already started or for which the building permit has been obtained or is planned to be obtained soon. The list includes 10 projects of housing funds (440 housing units) and 8 projects of municipalities (149 housing units), in the total value of EUR 94.3 million. The municipalities that responded to the survey and the funds need at least EUR 45 million to carry out the aforementioned projects.

Source: Ministry of a Solidarity-Based Future

Starting points for drafting an act regulating the financing of the building of public rental housing

The Government adopted a decision approving the starting points for drafting an act regulating the financing of the building of public rental housing, which envisages the allocation of EUR 100 million per year in the period from 2025 to 2035.

The aim of this systemic act is, in particular, to provide the necessary funds and appropriate conditions for the building of public rental housing in the next 10 years. This will ensure appropriate conditions for financing public rental housing, regulate the status of and rules for the operation of non-profit housing organisations and cooperatives, and recast the method of determining rents set out in the Housing Act, which will ensure a sustainable implementation of projects and accessibility of public rental housing, the reform of the subsidy system, and the determination of land policy measures.

The main problem in building public rental housing is the unstable, unpredictable and, above all, inadequate funding. Between 2015 and 2022, only EUR 13.8 million was allocated to the building of housing from the state budget. Additional funds were provided without clear predictability, which made it very difficult to plan and implement projects. The lack of predictable funding for the Slovenian Housing Fund, local housing funds and municipalities is the main obstacle to a stable business operation and the development of sufficient housing projects. The key stakeholders in the housing sector (municipalities, local housing funds and others) also see the solution in the establishment of a stable funding for the building of public housing.

Source: Ministry of a Solidarity-Based Future

The Government issued the Decree amending the Decree on the compulsory health insurance service programme

The Decree amending the Decree on the compulsory health insurance service programme, capacities required to implement it and the amount of funding for services for 2024 (hereinafter: the proposed Decree) implements the announced upgrade of the healthcare system step by step.

The proposed Decree focuses on improving the accessibility and financing of healthcare services for particularly vulnerable groups.

Key measures include:

• Funding palliative care for children at all healthcare levels;
• Introducing Family Healthy Lifestyle Teams in an additional 11 primary healthcare centres to combat over-nutrition and obesity in children and adolescents;
• Providing support for new Children's Mental Health Centres to provide help and support to young people;
• Identifying adequate funding for Child Development Units with Early Treatment Centres at primary level, targeting both children and adults;
• Expanding the programme of the most complex interventions for children with congenital heart defects at the Ljubljana University Medical Centre.

Additional measures include:

• Providing additional funding for measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox and tick-borne meningoencephalitis (TBE) vaccines;
• Increasing physiotherapy teams in public institutions, based on staff already in place but without a programme, and the possibility of providing additional physiotherapy services;
• Increasing the price of colonoscopies under the SVIT programme;
• Introducing new contents and price changes for implant prosthetics and dental surgery services;
• Introducing changes in the calculation of the emergency medical assistance programmes, correcting the standard of the Rapid Examination Unit and defining triage in the Satellite Emergency Centres in a comparable way to that in the Emergency Centre;
• Providing additional funding for modern wound dressings for chronic wound care in social care institutions;
• Increasing the percentage of the outpatient overrun paid for the first outpatient specialist examination programme;
• Introducing a payment for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) at the Ljubljana University Medical Centre;
• Introducing a payment for the extemporaneous medicinal product Lutetium for the treatment of neuroendocrine tumours at the Ljubljana University Medical Centre;
• Increasing the share of prospective programmes in the acute hospital treatment plan, differentiated between public institutions and concessionaires.

The planned spending in 2024 is expected to remain within the limits set by the Ordinance on the framework for the preparation of the general government budget for the 2024–2026 period for 2024. We will monitor spending on a monthly basis, and if it exceeds the planned volume, we will propose changes or introduce measures to ensure that spending stays within the limits.

Source: Ministry of Health

Helicopter transports for emergency medical assistance are carried out as state activity using police aircraft

The Government has decided that helicopter transports in the framework of the implementation of the Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) and inter-hospital helicopter transports and helicopter transports of children in incubators shall be carried out in the long term as state activity using police aircraft.

The Government has decided that the Ministry of the Interior shall join the activities for the purchase of two special helicopters for the implementation of the Helicopter Emergency Medical Services, for which funds will be provided from the budgetary reserve of the Ministry of Finance.

Source: Ministry of Health

The Government took note of two documents for the revival of the Economic and Social Council

The Government took note of the Declaration of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the social partners on respect for and promotion of social dialogue. The Government took note of the Amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Economic and Social Council.

On 21 July 2023, the employers' organisations, members of the Economic and Social Council, informed the Government of the Republic of Slovenia that, until the conditions for an equal tripartite social dialogue based on respect for the Rules of Procedure of the Economic and Social Council are guaranteed, they are withdrawing from the functioning of this body. On the basis of subsequent consultations between representatives of the Government, trade unions and employers, the Declaration of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the social partners on respect for and promotion of social dialogue and the Amendments and additions to the Rules of Procedure of the Economic and Social Council were drawn up with a view to reviving social dialogue and ensuring the constructive and continuous functioning of the Economic and Social Council.

Source: Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities